Thoight it was about time I posted some details on my RT112 Corona. The hardtop bodystyle was never sold in Australia, we only got the sedans and wagons of that era. The US market got the RT114 (18RC and RT115 (20R).

I first saw one of these cars when I was about eight years old. It was a South African import RT114 (same shape, but 18R engine) and I loved it.

Fast-forward twenty years and I decided the time had come to go searching for one. So I posted online and in magazines all over Australia. Finally I turned up an ex-Sth Africa RT114 in Sydney. Most likely it was the one I saw when I was eight. But it needed heaps of work and it had been modified in ways I wasn't happy with.

I tried New Zealand and scanned US websites with no luck. But a few Coronas of the right shape were popping up on Yahoo Japan, so I contacted an importer. It took a couple of years to find the right car - most that turned up sounded good but turned out to be full of rust!

Finally, in August last year a tidy-looking silver RT112 1800GL appeared on Yahoo Japan. I contacted my importer who contacted the owner. The photos I received looked very promising. So the importer negotiated a decent price and bought the car on my behalf on August 30 last year.

I knew I was taking a risk buying it on the basis of a few photos, but I was getting desperate, as each car I looked at was more expensive than the last! I couldn't sleep for days, worried that the car would arrive damaged or be a rust bucket.

The importer kept me posted along the way, and finally my car arrived in Melbourne in October, almost two months after I bought it. The transport company drove it out to me. I was totally stoked! The car was a LOT better than I expected. The seller had been very honest.

Some pics on arrival:

I trailered the car home, but I needn't have bothered. It ran fine. It came up great after a good clean!

A local panel shop replaced the front guards (wings, fenders) with new ones and resprayed the car. It didn't need a full respray, but I wanted all the paint to match. I fitted rechromed bumpers and CSA alloy wheels with Yokohama tyres. I had to fit new seatbelts and door mounted mirror for local compliance. I replaced some suspension and steering bits etc and the car passed it's roadworthy certificate. It's now fully registered and gets driven most weekends and turns a lot of heads

I've still got a few jobs to do. The carpets need replacing and the fender mirrors will be refitted when I find a gasket for the left one. I also want to change the wheels for some Watanabes or Konigs as well as a few other little jobs.

The car as it is today (less plates):

It was an expensive exercise, but I love the car and it was worth every penny.

The really good cars are pretty high priced. Its the slightly tatty examples that are the bargains. Mine was probably sold because it would no longer pass "Shaken" or Roadworthy. But it really had very little wrong with it. You should see the rust on some of the cars I rejected!

Low mileage is not always good. It can mean it was stored for many years and has deteriorated, or it's spent it's entire life on short runs stone cold with the choke on.

I'd believe it. I know of a green RHD one in San Diego. I was thinking of buying it for a while, but the guy sold it to someone else. It has a modified 2TG/3T hybrid engine and Supra rims. Probably the same one you saw.

After the trip to Hanging Rock the RT112's 16R engine blew a head gasket. At least that's what I thought it was, as it was pumping combustion gasses and oil into the radiator and forcing water out the overflow bottle at a rapid rate.

I changed the head gasket, but it actually ran worse! Now I have diagnosed the head is actually cracked.

Rather than fit another head I have decided to do an 18RG and five speed swap using the engine from my rusty RT104 sedan. Over the last weekend I pulled the engine and gearbox from both cars, swapped sumps and mounts across and dropped the 18RG and five speed into the RT112. I still have to finish hooking everything back up. I am storing the 16R complete in case I ever get the originality bug and want to refit it.

Unfortunately the RT104 wil now be going to the great scrapyard in the sky once I've pulled off anything else that looks useful. But at least it will remove some clutter from the yard!

the previous owner, jeff, built it up, painted it, and drove it sparingly for about 15 years!

i seem to recall he bought it from an ex-serviceman who brought it in from japan before it had a chance to rust

i wonder what caused him to sell it just as nostalgic japanese is taking off?

Yep, thats right, Jeff was his name. He had a pretty high price on it IMHO and we were negotiating a figure based on photos etc. Then I heard nothing for a few weeks so I contacted him again. He said someone locally had bought it.

Jeff bought it from an impound lot for not much at all.

There is another JDM RHD coupe hiding somewhere in California. It's a genuine GT in white with black front panels. The US serviceman (now retired) who bought it in Japan when it was a year old still owns it now. Last photos I saw two years ago it was parked in a field with a bearing knock and he wanted to restore it rather than sell.

Oh well, my silver one worked out cheaper anyway, and I prefer silver to dark green.

Yep, thats right, Jeff was his name. He had a pretty high price on it IMHO and we were negotiating a figure based on photos etc. Then I heard nothing for a few weeks so I contacted him again. He said someone locally had bought it.

Oh well, my silver one worked out cheaper anyway, and I prefer silver to dark green.

he probably sold it to one of his posse for 1/2 the asking price hmm, maybe i got my stories mixed up with the white car
anyway, the green car is (obviously) not original paint colour